Daniel on 
Sambo on 
Chili on 
Willy Mac on 
Beau on Are you effing kidding me? As slow and painful as it was to watch, what a game! This is the first time I have actually watched a dominating Clemson win and not had a worry about how it translated to the following week. Maybe it’s just so early in the season or the fact that we haven’t had much time to feel out this marriage with Dabo, but I’ve seen a lot of improvement over the past few weeks in different areas. Granted what happened last week was a half train wreck, it had some good stuff peppered through out it. Excuse the homerism, but my favorite three parts about a football game played out in perfection today.
First off, our trench guys absolutely abused Boston College on both sides of the ball. Our guys on offense pushed the Eagles around a lot and made a lot of big blocks inside the hash marks yet the only downside was that we could only do it in between the 20′s. I’ll get to the defensive line in a bit. But first, a photo shop in the vein of most Clemson message board trolls concerning this game:
Secondly, our defense is one of the best in the ACC. It has to be after this outing(Cue the Kevin Steele/Steele Curtain terrible Tigernet jokes and references). DeAndre McDaniel is well worth the drama. He is absolutely a beast and was born to play football. Check that, he had to have been engineered in a genome lab somewhere to specifically be good at hang cleans, eating red meat, and football. That would translate as a decent excuse for his off field, cro-magnon-esque off the field behavior. Consider yourself lucky to get to watch him up close because I think we’re all witnesses to something special here.
Looking at the numbers:
- Held Boston College to 54 yards offense total (29 yards rushing, 25 yards passing).
- Three interceptions by our guys: One by McDaniel (fourth on the year putting him up near the top in the nation in that category) and two career firsts by Rashard Hall and Jonathan Meeks.
- We had four sacks: Two great ones for Ricky Sapp… one of which was a forced fumble; One by DaQuan Bowers in the form of a nifty disguised blitz that had him shifting over to a three technique; & one went to McDaniel who came in on a quirky little semi-delayed safety blitz.
- Our box score didn’t show it but our linebackers played out of their minds, our defensive backs were all over their guys, and once again the defensive line had a super strong showing plus sacks this time. Key points again were opening the right holes to allow the linebackers to make plays and closing the proper gaps to shut down the run.
The third and final part I loved about the game is the fact that we absolutely have one of the most dangerous special teams return games in the nation. Most good return guys need three or four blocks or creases to catch a big break and take it to the house. On top of that, a lot of guys don’t really break a ton of big plays in one game. Once again, I think we’re seeing something special here even though Spiller has no real shot at the Heisman as his campaign seems to be focusing on his all purpose yardage. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what I’m telling you, but dammit that’s an abnormal amount of great returns per game. Spiller is the first Tiger to score a touchdown in five different ways: passing, rushing, receiving, punt return, and kick return (thanks to CUTiger1984).
In terms of negatives, there are still some things left on the table for us as a team. Our receivers are still having trouble not only catching the ball but they’re also failing in the extra curricular areas too. If you’re an offensive coordinator and are going to call a screen or bubble screen these guys need to be able to run, block, and hit hard. Then again, screw it. We need to work on catching the ball first and foremost, being a passing team. These guys couldn’t catch a set of double d’s at a titty bar. Okay, bad line but fuck you. Hallidega also reminded me that we won that football game without looking real good on offense sans Spiller. That speaks volumes as to how truly awesome our defense is. It also shows how much further we have to go on offense. Granted, Napier had to wait till NCAA 2010 came out on Playstation to finish up his playbook, but the play calling has been pretty decent. I mean, it’s a very basic and aggressive running game that relies on some baller-assed running backs. Short point is that it’s not Rob Spence or Bowden. Then again, you could take a shit in a paper sack, throw it against the wall and point at it and that would be better than anything that Bowden and Spence could have ever conjured. Brownie points to Brad Scott for finally coming through when I needed him to.
1AndrewTheTerrible
on Sep 19, 2009 at 11:18 pm:
“…take a shit in a paper sack…” leads into “Brownie points to Brad Scott…”
lol, i’m in 3rd grade
2JasonL
on Sep 19, 2009 at 11:43 pm:
True story: I took a shit, put it in a paper bag and threw it against my wall while I was watching the Syracuse game. I swear to god there were three Rob Spence plays there. I watched them materialize!!!! Swear!!!
Bring on TCU, mutha fukka!!!!!!
3NoleCC
on Sep 20, 2009 at 9:39 am:
One of the best defenses in the ACC? Hardly.
Probably in the Top 3 in the country.
4flaact
on Sep 20, 2009 at 10:05 am:
First, great win against a team I really don’t like.
For real that was one of the best defensive performances of any football game I’ve ever watched.
On offense, I think Michael Palmer has stepped up his game a lot. The guy is tough, and is a definite threat in the passing game.
Ellington looks fucking good, that is, when he holds on to the ball.
Kyle Parker met a darn good secondary and didn’t play a good game. He showed toughness and didn’t lose the game for us after coming out and throwing 2 quick picks, but I’m hoping he learns a lot this week in film study.
A couple other areas for improvement I saw:
1) Jamie Harper needs to work on his balance / staying on his feet. For a guy who is 235 pounds and fast, he sure doesn’t bulldoze through initial contact like it. The guy everaged 1.3 yards per carry, and there WAS running room for him.
2) We didn’t work Spiller into the passing game. In my opinion he is as good or even better in this aspect than running through the tackles.
3) This whole shuffling Willy Korn into the game for 2-3 drives is gonna give me a heart attack. How many more EXTREME 3 and outs / Fumbles / scrambles for lost yardage/ interceptions do we need to see before he gets a permanent bench spot?
I think people have said this, and I agree, next week is going to be a pivotal game for us even though it’s an out of conference game. Do we elevate our game at home, knock off a ranked (and good) TCU team to go 3-1, or do we lose and fall to a mediocre 2-2 before the meat of the conference schedule… I’ll be making the 3 1/2 hour drive to Clemson to find out :)
5Willy Mac
on Sep 20, 2009 at 10:25 am:
I think everyone I know is coming back for that game. It’s bound to be huge. I can’t tell you how many old friends that live far away now have told me they’re coming back for that game.
6chris simp
on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:13 am:
Our red zone offense was awful! But besides that it was a good win and shows we are progressing very well as a team! Hopefully our Offense will get in gear for TCU next week, it’s gone be a good one!
7Winfield Featherston
on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:26 am:
Very dominating defense yesterday. Well played.
8Daniel
on Sep 20, 2009 at 12:44 pm:
BC’s offense isn’t too good but that was an outstanding showing by our defense. The physicality and aggression is much improved from the Bowden era. TCU is a huge game for us. I don’t think they’re going to do much on offense either against us. Also, with weather conditions the way they were, it’s tough to do much on offense for either team and BC has always had a good defense. All things considered that was a pretty good outing by us but Parker has to play better next week.
9Dobbo Swiney
on Sep 20, 2009 at 6:41 pm:
The Good: I remember tearing my (fading) hair out last year because the D would pressure-but-not-sack the QB, and the hugfest we called tackling hemorrhaged yards after contact. But yesterday, we were getting into their backfield, laying them out, and stomping over their supine form. It seemed like we only allowed them 20 yards each drive; they only scored once, and that was because they started that drive inside the 15.
The Bad: We scored no offensive touchdowns. (The silver lining: Our ineffective red-zone O let Richard Jackson shine; he was 6-for-6, with two over 40 and a long of 52.)
The Ugly: Kyle Parker’s haircut; Willy Korn’s arm.
10Tom
on Sep 20, 2009 at 8:51 pm:
We have a very inexperienced head coach and a totally unqualified offensive coordinator, and it shows. Keep this shit up against TCU, FSU, Miami, and we’re dead.
11thedabokoolaid
on Sep 20, 2009 at 8:56 pm:
OK, I’m going out a limb here and defending Willy Korn. you all are so quick to jump on him, but at least he can make it to receivers. that sorry excuse for a QB kyle Parker should not be our QB. he is not a leader and he does not have the maturity level needed to lead the team. maybe in the future, he will, but right now, not even close. Korn is a proven leader and last year when he got to play he did great. he’s only been put in a couple times this year and had a rough time, but its not fair for everyone to jump on him. LET HIM PLAY A FULL GAME! spring games don’t count for crap and it shows every time Parker steps out on the field and gives up the ball on an interception.
12A770Tiger
on Sep 20, 2009 at 9:09 pm:
I agree that Korn isn’t getting enough playing time to do anything. Parker clearly has talent, but needs to mature a lot as a leader and a passer. If Parker was so much better in Spring than Korn, then Korn must have really stunk up the place. It’s funny how it seems Korn has went from Extreme to suck-ass so fast in so many peoples’ eyes. Doesn’t say much for those folks as fans to turn so quickly on him.
13A770Tiger
on Sep 20, 2009 at 9:19 pm:
Gravatar check.
14Mogrits
on Sep 20, 2009 at 10:57 pm:
I don’t think anyone is “turning on him”. If you have seen his performances thus far, and comment on them, there is no way to spin it positively. He just hasn’t done well. I’m sure there are a lot of reasons for that- including too little playing time. Probably primarily too little playing time. Commenting on the obvious doesn’t mean you are turning on the kid.
15thedabokoolaid
on Sep 20, 2009 at 11:15 pm:
it seems clear to me that the majority is turning on uim, everyone is talking about him finding a permanent place on the bench or how many extreme 3 and outs can we take before he finds a permanent place on the bench and i think that is really sad. i agree his performance thus far hasn’t been great, but nobody has given him a shot to work through his issues on the field. nobody would be a good QB if randomly thrown into the game for like 2 plays or sent out to just kneel the ball.
16madmaccorleone
on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:58 am:
I still see too much Rob Spence in our offense. We simply don’t have the 0-line to establish a truly punishing run game which is essential to open up all the other variables our skill players COULD accomplish. It’s just too easy to shut down our offense….stack 8 in the box and dare us to throw. We’re good enough to beat the BC’s and N.C. States of the world, but TCU, Miami, Fla.St, will kill us. Can’t say enough, however, about the defense which will keep us in some of those games. Maybe if we had went and hired ourselves a seasoned OC like we did with Steele on the D, we’d have a chance in some of these games that I feel like we’ll be outplayed, outcoached, outeverythinged! Better team than last year, for sure….but still not playing to our potential, especially on offense. But then, I like a healthy dose of skepticism….I grew up listening to Coach Ford bitch and moan about what to me was a great win….
17Aaron Neville's Pet Tick
on Sep 21, 2009 at 2:53 am:
@16, if we beat the BC’s and NC State’s of the world then we get a toss up against FSU to get in the ACCCG. I’ll take that yearly if you think that’s a downgrade. Tommy couldn’t consistently win those games.
I agree on the OC, but players need to make plays. Parker can’t throw into double coverage, Ellington needs to hold on to the ball, etc. I don’t think we’ll get killed by anyone. Our defense is stout, they should be able to keep us in most games.
@11, You need to realize that when Korn is in there, the coaches aren’t going to let him attempt the throws that they’ll let Parker. Korn lost. We need to just go with Parker until he gets hurt. It sucks, peoples feelings are gonna get hurt, but Parker seems to be the better option.
18Joe
on Sep 21, 2009 at 8:29 am:
@ the koolaid guy.
Nobody is turning or conspiring against Korn, grow up, this is Football.
Main reason why I say keep Korn on the bench, NO POCKET PRESENSE. He has none, he sees a D end getting blocked around the horn he panics and runs out of the pocket and gets killed or throws an interception.
Main reason I say keep Parker on the field, HAS POCKET PRESENSE. For the first time in a long time we have a QB who has pocket presense, keep him on the field getting experience and he will just get better and better. He is not our leader this year and everyone knows that, our leader is CJ MOTHERFUCKING SPILLER. Thats who it is and how it should be.
19flaact
on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:28 am:
@15
3) This whole shuffling Willy Korn into the game for 2-3 drives is gonna give me a heart attack. How many more EXTREME 3 and outs / Fumbles / scrambles for lost yardage/ interceptions do we need to see before he gets a permanent bench spot?
This is what I said. I’m not throwing Korn under the bus, but he flat out has played miserably in the games, and it makes no sense at all to try and rotate him into the games. It takes Parker out of his rhythm, and I don’t Korn has led a single successful drive in the two games he has been in.
I don’t understand this whole “Parker isn’t a leader” mentality. He has played in 3 games, is 2-1, and hasn’t lost a game for us. and what leadership skills does Korn possess that will make him a better QB than Parker? What sort of intangibles does the savior from Byrnes possess that will overcome his floated passes, poor performance to date, and the overwheliming public perception that Parker is now the QB of the future.
I think if Korn remains a tiger, he will be a good backup, and will be a great second team guy to help in practice. and I bet he takes Coastal Carolina to the woodshed and throws 4 touchdowns.
20BCMike
on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:33 am:
Congrats on the win, Tiger fans.
I haven’t endured a beating like that since Foster Care.
21Chili
on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:36 am:
@20 Niiiice
22BCMike
on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:48 am:
Re: “First off, our trench guys absolutely abused Boston College on both sides of the ball.”
I have to disagree with that a little bit. You obviously have enough talent at WR and RB to move the ball if your O-Line is dominating. BC’s D was thrown into unbelievably tough situations throughout the game, and never–NEVER gave up the TD.
Say what you want about the D-line shitting all over our O-Line…hell, I’ll join you in throwing tomatoes…but the Defense from BC I felt played remarkably well. You let me know the next time a defense holds Clemson out of the endzone when you guys get the ball on the opponent’s side of the field 8 (?) times.
I’m not taking anything away from CU, you guys dominated and completely deserved to win Saturday…but I take exception to saying BC’s D (any portion) was whooped. If they were whooped, you would have been in the endzone.
23Tom
on Sep 21, 2009 at 10:41 am:
BCMike is right, our OL didn’t dominate their DL. Our O didn’t do shit in fact.
24Chili
on Sep 21, 2009 at 10:44 am:
@22, 23 Agreed.
25Willy Mac
on Sep 21, 2009 at 10:54 am:
@22, 23, 24 – Watched the replay, we moved them and busted huge holes in between the twenties. The redzone had to be due coaching wanting to punch it in and BC stacking 8 in the box. That was coaching. I had a ground level view. We were really moving them. Watch it again (Tues replay I think on CSS or Sports South). What really killed us is our WRs not being able to set up blocks to get us in the endzone on stretch plays inside the 20s. It fucking kills me that we can’t do shit sans Jacoby out there. Give the offensive line their due, yeah they stopped us from getting in the redzone but we were the best I’ve seen us dating back to 2007. Your defense did very well, but don’t act like they did all that well. We rushed for 151 yards against you and you were stacking the box a lot. That’s absolute horse shit effort, friends.
26BCMike
on Sep 21, 2009 at 11:40 am:
“your defense did very well, but don’t act like they did all that well.”
I take it you’re still tipping back?
I think I’ve given enough praise to you guys that the above might be a little unnecessary.
I think our D played pretty well, especially given that Ramsey had his first time ever at DT (Scafe, by far our best DT was scratched before the game). Any time we hold a team as talented as Clemson is out of the endzone, I have a hard time saying they played poorly.
Maybe I’m just being a homer.
27Willy Mac
on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:05 pm:
Dude, our offense sans Spiller and a few other brief points is not that good.
28Chili
on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:06 pm:
Dude, our offense… …is not that good.
Fixed that for you.
29Willy Mac
on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm:
LOL, correct sir.
Also, GO VIKINGS!! WHOOO! 2-0 BABY!
30Chili
on Sep 21, 2009 at 12:21 pm:
My Gravatar is actually Brett’s official headshot.
31NoleCC
on Sep 21, 2009 at 2:28 pm:
@30 lol… old man FAVRE thank God he’s not a Jet anymore.
32A770Tiger
on Sep 21, 2009 at 8:03 pm:
@18 and 19. I agree with you guys that Korn hasn’t shined, but I don’t think Parker has either. For every great pass he makes, he throws several horrible ones–interceptions, over the receivers, out of bounds when he clearly didn’t intend to do so. Now, I do agree he has a lot of potential and I pray he lives up to that, but I haven’t seen what I consider leadership from him. A 2 -1 record doesn’t translate to leadership. He’s a freshman playing in front of incredible crowds and under a lot of pressure, so his maturity level shows in that he doesn’t fire up the troops, and take charge to march the offense down the field. I think Korn has that maturity level and with a wee bit more time on field he would show that. He just doesn’t get a chance to get going. I know it’s football, but I do believe in loyalty and players deserve a chance when they’ve shown loyalty–and Korn has been loyal. While not a straight-up comparison, I remember when Bowden fucked over Reggie Merriwether and I hate to see another hustling player like Korn get the same treatment. For the record, no one will ever question that CJ is the man on this team and sets the standard for leadership–and loyalty. Regardless, great discussion, and, as always, GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
33thedabokoolaid
on Sep 21, 2009 at 9:57 pm:
@18,19 Parker has pocket presence? Seriously? Good lord, years of tommy bowden, will proctor and cullen harper set our standards so low? Parker is so incredibly inaccurate it isn’t funny, he isn’t clemson caliber yet. he may have a future as our lead QB, but Korn has not been given a fair chance in my opinion and everyone is throwing him under the bus. I am all about dogging out those who deserve it, but good god i’m tired of everyone telling us that korn needs to be benched, lets try it the other way for just one freakin game. if korn isn’t given a full game to work through his issues and get his rythym going we will never see the talent that lies beneath. just give him a chance is all i’m saying, don’t judge him off of just a few plays. you forget he did great last year when he got to play one or two entire quarters at a time instead of just like 2 snaps.
34thedabokoolaid
on Sep 21, 2009 at 10:07 pm:
ok, gonna correct myself, he did not get to play entire quarters last year either, which actually further helps my point that he hasn’t been given a real chance. just found out there is a willykorn.org website…seriously?
35flaact
on Sep 21, 2009 at 10:59 pm:
@33 I understand your point and somewhat agree with you. Neither Korn nor Parker have demonstrated that they are a top caliber QB, but you have to admit that Parker has looked better. I don’t think a two QB system will work, and I don’t think the coaching staff feels that one will work either. So I guess it’s up to Korn to somehow earn a starting spot either if Parker starts to royally suck or Korn really steps up in practice and shows he is the superior leader / athlete.
Also it appears that the people who host http://www.willykorn.org committed suicide when Kyle Parker was named QB, since they still have Korn listed as a freshman on the front page. lol.
36joe
on Sep 21, 2009 at 11:26 pm:
@32,33
Seriously, why do you have such a huge bias for Korn? All Parker does is throw interceptions, really? Are you sure about that one?
Go and re-watch the games without your EXTREME WILLY KORN facemask on and you will see that, yes Kyle Parker shows great pocket presence on the majority of his plays. On the plays which he is too deep in the pocket he screws up. If our coaches teach him proper fundamentals, this kid will improve on what he is already doing good, and will be great. If Korn was that hard of a worker, it would show on the field and in practice enough for the coaches to put him on the field.
37thedabokoolaid
on Sep 22, 2009 at 10:06 am:
lol! flaact, great response! it must have been an EXTREME MASS SUICIDE. joe, why are you so biased for parker? what has he done that is so great? nothing. dabo picked him to be lead QB and he has suddenly become the future of clemson football, it’s almost laughable.
38tyge
on Sep 22, 2009 at 11:12 am:
Maybe Willy Korn excels with more playing time, maybe he doesn’t. This is beside the point. Constantly shuffling between two quarterbacks will eventually stunt the growth of both of them. Dabo made the decision to go with Parker. Now Parker needs to be playing as much as possible in every game to give him the experience to learn and grow as a quarterback. The truth is, putting Korn in there for a few series just disrupts the rhythm of the whole offense and hurts the team as a whole. Loyalty is admirable, but ultimately you have to put the team first in all decisions. If Parker is Dabo’s choice, then he should stick with him and Korn can get the garbage time.
39Joe
on Sep 22, 2009 at 1:27 pm:
@37 Asside from maybe 10 plays total. Made some pretty good decissions in the backfield. He steps up in the pocket and makes a decission when he sees an end being blocked around the horn. I haven’t seen a QB do that consistantly in Clemson in a while.
Also nobody is saying Parker is the future of Clemson football, hell he might be in pro baseball next football season. He does show much more potential than Parker though. If you actually watch the games and look at the fundamentals, then you will notice it.
40A770Tiger
on Sep 22, 2009 at 8:31 pm:
I have to agree that the starter needs the playing time to build long-term chemistry with the offense and to improve and I hope Parker does just that. I really feel that with our Defense and Special Teams playing so well we can compete with anyone if the Offense would start clicking. If they don’t, our Defense is going to get worn down and start to suffer. WIthout the passing game we’re screwed. Hell, even some mid-range passes would open things up a lot for CJ and the other backs. Here’s to Parker improving dramatically, Korn doing well if he gets the chance, and hats off to the best damn Blog on college football. GO TIGERS!!!
41thedabokoolaid
on Sep 22, 2009 at 10:53 pm:
amen!